House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) continued minimizing $1,000 bonuses as “crumbs” in a town hall event on Thursday morning. Vice President Mike Pence had attacked her for this rhetoric on Wednesday, but she doubled down.
“There’s some tax advantage in the beginning for families, and that’s their enticement,” Pelosi said at the “TrumpTax Town Hall” in Cambridge, Mass. “While they give banquets to the high end, to the top one percent to corporate America, I say crumbs — they mock me in ads for saying — compared to the banquet they give at the high end.”
Last month, the Massachusetts-based company Berkshire Hills Bancorp announced it would provide a $1,000 bonus to over 1,000 employees following President Trump’s signing the historic tax reform law. In addition, the company said, it would raise the minimum wage of its employees to $15 per hour, enhance employee development and training programs, and contribute $2 million to its charitable foundation.
Similarly, HarborOne Bank, also based in Massachusetts, announced it would give a $500 bonus to more than 600 employees, and accelerated its plan to implement a $15 minimum wage within the company.
Beyond Massachusetts, more than 3 million American workers have received bonuses, according to an analysis from Americans for Tax Reform.
Vice President Mike Pence attacked Pelosi for similar comments on Wednesday.
“I heard Nancy Pelosi — before the tax cut was voted on — predicted economic armageddon,” Pence told House and Senate Republicans on the first day of the annual GOP policy retreat at The Greenbrier resort in White Sulfur Springs, Pa., The Hill reported.
“It’s just amazing to me that after this tax cut passes, 3 million Americans get another $1,000 in their pockets in many cases, and she actually described that as ‘crumbs,’” Pence added.
“If you’re going to say that $1,000 is crumbs, you live in a different world than I’m living in,” the vice president continued. “If I had another $1,000 in my pocket at the end of the year, I have a term for that: Christmas. … Or maybe a little something extra for Mrs. Pence.”
Pelosi began the “crumbs” line of attack last month, deriding the bonuses employees received compared to the benefits for corporations.
“In terms of the bonus that corporate America received versus the crumbs that they are giving workers to kind of put the schmooze on is so pathetic. It’s so pathetic,” Pelosi declared.
Back in 2011, Pelosi attacked Republicans over a matter of $40 from Barack Obama’s payroll tax cut.
Today's agreement is a victory for the American people-they spoke out clearly & #40dollars each paycheck will make a difference.
— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) December 23, 2011
Yet, $1,000 is just “crumbs”?
Join the conversation as a VIP Member